Photos by George Danner of Griffin, Georgia. His group has an interesting tournament format...
"This tournament was held in Griffin at Lance Taylor's grass courts. It is held every 2 years with the Griffin Bocce Team vs. the Peachtree Bocce Team. We started this tournament in 1997 using the 'Ryder Cup' format.
Twenty-one (21) team points are at stake. A team point is earned with each match won. All matches go to 12 points. The team that earns 11 points is declared the winner and will retain the Chad Smith Cup for 2 years.
The 21 matches are as follows:
6 singles: (matches # 1-4-7-10-13-16)
3 doubles: 4 balls/player (matches # 2-5-8)
3 foursomes: 2 balls/player (matches #3-6-9)
5 doubles: 2 balls/player (matches # 11-14-17-19-20)
4 foursomes: 1 ball/player (matches # 12-15-18-21)
12 rollers per roster max. - 10 is the min.
No player can play more than 1 singles match. All players must play at least one match. Names are put in the hat by the captains before each match. Names are picked out of the hat for the next match so the teams will not know who they will face until the start of the match."

The Combatants!

The T-shirt says it all. Note the obligatory beverage at the ready. Many talk about bocce going hand in hand with libations.

Says Danner, "Matt Wood captained the Griffin Team and Mike Morrison captained the PTC Team. We had enough food to feed 50 people, some of the best Bar-B-Q in the South cooked by Lance Taylor and Curt Stevens. These two need to open a bar-b-q place, it's that good."

The 2009 champs get the Chad Smith Trophy (honoring a former player who passed away) and two years' bragging rights. Danner tells us that "This was the first time the tournament went down to the last match. Best Cup Tournament to date."